


leave this blue neighborhood

by orphan_account



Series: my youth is yours [6]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-25 01:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6174328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in which they escape to a better place with good people to get josh's mind off of everything.</p><p>
  <i>let's leave this blue neighborhood<br/>never knew lovin' could hurt this good</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. you're all i think about

**Author's Note:**

> after a long wait  
> the camping trip is here
> 
> nice  
> (title - WILD by troye sivan)

“did he get into it with someone?”

tyler looks up from where he’s been staring at josh from across the driveway, chatting head-to-head with debby in hushed tones; brendon’s standing next to him, a smug smile on his face.

he half wants to punch him, just to wipe it off. he could be such an insensitive asshole sometime, it was ridiculous. instead, he twists his fingers into the hem of his t-shirt, offers up a half-assed shrug. “it’s complicated.”

brendon must sense the coldness washing off of him in waves. his eyebrows furrow when he asks, “his dad?”

tyler lifts an eyebrow. “how do you know?” a pause. “did he tell you?”

“well, no.” brendon awkwardly cards a hand through his hair, shrugs. “you can kind of tell. those bruises aren’t hickeys. just didn’t know if it was his mom or his dad.”

“oh.” he tugs at his t-shirt, eyes trailing back to josh longingly. he wished he would have just stayed at his house so they could’ve talked it over, but he’d insisted on still going camping.

_“it’d look suspicious,” he’d said, “not going. i don’t want bren breathing down my neck.”_

_“showing up like this is going to be suspicious, j.”_

_“i’ll make something up. tell ‘em i got into a fight or something.”_

_“i mean – you kind of did, right? are you sure you want to go?”_

_“yeah. i’m sure. i need to.”_

he’d agreed, reluctantly; the desperation in josh’s eyes, in the tone of his voice, was nearly overwhelming. there was something he wasn’t telling him, but tyler couldn’t find the nerve to ask.

now, he found himself leaned against the hood of josh’s car while he talks hurriedly to debby. there’s not a doubt in tyler’s mind that he’s explaining to her what had really gone on; they’d been friends even longer than him and tyler. there wasn’t hiding anything from her. she could read josh like an open book, and it was terrifying.

brendon gives him another once-over, sighs. “i won’t bring it up.”

tyler lets an appreciative smile cross his features. “thank you. he’ll tell you more than i can, one day.”

“i know.”

another car pulls into the driveway, parking next to brendon’s; pete’s blue and white ’65 mustang, the pride and joy of his lifetime. it had been his father’s, and a present for his seventeenth birthday. the engine’s a piece of shit, and he must’ve corked at least a grand into fixing it up into the conditions it is now, but he won’t dare get another car.

a snapback is pulled low over his eyes when he opens the door, bottle-blonde and bleach-burned hair poking out from underneath the backwards brim. he grins at brendon, flipping him the middle finger, and it’s hardly surprising that brendon guffaws, grinning at him and waving him over.

“where’s your boy toy?” pete asks, even as his own boyfriend topples out of the passenger’s seat, brown hair disheveled and falling into his eyes. patrick smiles cheerily at tyler first, tipping a near-bashful wave his way; tyler’s heart warms at the sight of him, and he waves back, a grin just as bright crossing into his face.

“dallon’s inside with jenna.” they high five, and brendon slaps pete’s ass when he comes close enough; he immediately starts cursing him out, and patrick rolls his eyes as he strolls leisurely over to tyler’s side.

“he’s been in a mood all morning,” he sighs, tugging tyler into a side-hug as brendon and pete engage each other in a horrible attempt at fighting, trying to wrestle each other to the pavement.

“what’d you do, refuse him a blowjob?” tyler snorts at the flush that rises into patrick’s cheeks, playfully shoving his shoulder. “it’s fine, patty. i would’ve done the same thing.”

“whatever. i’d like to see you refuse josh anything,” patrick shifts, leaning against the hood; his eyes turn from pete to look at josh, immediately widening when they see the state he’s in. “oh, goodness. josh looks _bad_. who’d he get into it with?”

“ask him. it’s a really interesting story,” tyler flounders for an explanation, deciding it’s best if josh tells them all the same one; he hopes it comes across as more convincing than it feels, rolling off his tongue.

he offers up a cheesy smile when patrick groans. “can that boy just stay out of trouble? he’s almost as bad as pete.”

tyler’s smile falters. if only they knew what josh had been going through. he half wants to tell him, just to keep them from thinking that josh is a bad kid like pete always has been, but he bites his tongue and merely shrugs.

debby and josh hug, as tyler watches on sadly; her arms are tight around his waist as she whispers something that looks like ‘i love you’ into his ear. his eyes squeeze closed, possibly holding back tears, as he hugs her back, hands firm on her hips.

sometimes, tyler forgets how close debby and josh are. closer than him and tyler, quite possibly; his chest gives a familiar panging ache as they pull apart, and debby smiles up at josh, the corners of her eyes watery with tears.

a shout sounds from his other side; tyler’s and patrick’s head turn in unison from josh and debby to watch as brendon pins pete to the concrete on his back. he wiggles wildly, shouting out ‘ _fuck’_ as loudly as he possibly can while brendon cheers triumphantly, sitting on his hips.

“i win, petey,” brendon crows, and pete knees him hard in the crotch; he goes sprawling, holding his groin and moaning out in pain as he hits the concrete, landing on his side.

“win my _ass_! how’s the dirt taste, brendon?”

“tastes great,” brendon groans through the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

patrick lets out yet another sigh. tyler’s learned, from years of experience, that he’s full of them, especially if pete wentz is involved in some way.

“pete, what are you doing to my boyfriend?” another voice joins the fray; tyler turns once more, only to see the towering figure of dallon slowly approaching the scene. his voice may be stern, but he’s smiling as he crouches next to brendon and puts a hand on his shoulder. “fighting for my honor again?”

“always,” brendon smiles tearfully.

with dallon’s help, he gets back on his feet; pete crosses his arms and walks over to patrick, grinning as he hooks an arm around his waist and presses a wet kiss to his cheek.

“pete, that’s gross.”

“patrick, fuck you.”

tyler raises an eyebrow at the language, but the both of them are smiling as patrick cups pete’s jaw in his hand and kisses him firmly to shut him up; he smiles, then, in understanding. brendon bubbles over into ridiculously loud laughter in the distance, and when tyler looks over to him, dallon is tickling his sides in an attempt to make him stop pathetically whining over getting thrown to the dirt.

he looks to patrick, but he’s lip-locked with pete still. dejected, he slides off the hood and makes his way over to josh just as debby departs to head inside to get jenna.

“hey, ty,” josh murmurs, slings an arm around his shoulders and presses his forehead against tyler’s temple.

“how are you feeling?” tyler asks, cinching his fingers in the fabric of his t-shirt just above the waistband of his jeans as josh kisses his cheek.

“m’fine.” it’s dismissive, empty; his eyes are still as hollow as they’d been since tyler had first saw him that morning, and it’s worrying. he must sense his discomfort because he rubs a hand over tyler’s shoulder blade and sighs, “hurts, but i’m fine. just need to keep my mind off of things.”

“i know.” he’s just the person for that. he presses his palm flat against josh’s abdomen, tilts his chin up and kisses the bend of his jaw. “come on. let’s start driving. you’ll feel better the farther away you get.”

josh tugs away from him momentarily to collect the others, calling over his shoulder, “let’s hit the road!”

there’s a clamor of noise as brendon cheers; he hears someone shout ‘fuck you’ and he guesses it’s pete talking to brendon again, and then another loud shout. when he turns around, they’re wrestling again, shouting incoherently as brendon puts pete in a headlock. patrick stands nearby, hands on his hips as he tries to call pete away over the noise.

after ten seconds, he gets irritated enough to shout, “can you two _stop_ molesting each other for two seconds and get in the car?”

that calls all of pete’s attention; he lands a sharp smack to brendon’s crotch again and wiggles out of his grasp when he doubles over in pain once more.

patrick begins chewing pete out as they climb into the mustang; tyler barely catches the words ‘grow up’ from his mouth and it would be surprising, coming from patrick, but only if it wasn’t directed toward pete.

dallon badly suppresses laughter as he helps brendon off the ground again. “stop picking fights with him,” he’s saying, cupping brendon’s face in his hands when he pouts. “you’ll just get your ass kicked.”

they pile into the back of pete’s mustang as well, which is a horrid idea, but tyler can’t help but feel mildly thankful. he doesn’t know how he’d survive a hour and a half drive with brendon in the same car as him.

“ready to go?” josh asks, as the front door swings open; jenna and debby appear, giggling with hands linked.

“mhm.” tyler nods, wrinkles his nose.

“hi, ty,” debby chimes, hugging him softly. he wraps her arms around her waist and noses through her hair; she smells something like strawberries. she always does.

“hey, debby.” he opens her car door for her, and she smiles when she thanks him. after she’s seated, he closes it behind her, opens his own, and plops down in the seat, stretching his legs out to the best of his ability.

jenna crawls in next to debby, sliding into the middle seat to press their legs together immediately. josh appears next, closing his door behind him and pulling his seatbelt over his chest, before putting his keys into the ignition.

“put your seatbelt on,” he points at tyler’s chest. he rolls his eyes but does as instructed, securing himself, as josh pulls out of his driveway. “deb, did we get everything?”

“i think so,” she calls from the back.

“alright,” josh sighs, reaching out to grab tyler’s hand in his, twining their fingers together. “road trip.”

+

“if anyone needs to pee, go now,” josh sighs. both debby and jenna rush out of the car, running across the parking lot with hands held and long hair flying behind them. tyler stays planted in his seat, thumbs tapping his screen as he texts his mother.

“dude, i’m not turning around if you decide you need to pee in ten minutes,” josh rolls his eyes and tyler looks up at him from his phone, smiling softly.

“i’m good, baby,” he murmurs.

he’s not turning red at some pet name. he swears he’s not.

“you’re blushing.”

 _fuck_. “i am not.”

“you are too,” tyler insists, leaning over the middle console to poke his cheek softly.

josh huffs, draws away from his touch. “whatever.”

“ _baby_ ,” tyler drawls, leans over further to curl his hand around the underside of josh’s jaw, dragging his face toward him.

“what?” josh asks, glowing an even more brilliant shade.

“i love you.”

josh scowls, and tyler wiggles his eyebrows. immediately, he begins to giggle, breaking away from tyler to watch as debby and jenna make their way across the parking lot.

“hi, babes,” jenna chirps as she slides into the car, debby in tow.

“gosh, josh, you’re _red_ ,” debby comments as she settles herself in, giving him a sunshiney know-it-all smile as she puts her seatbelt on.

“am i? hadn’t noticed,” josh smiles back, just as bright, before pulling the car onto the road again. tyler snorts to the side, hands on his phone again, intently focused on his screen.

josh flips through radio stations until he finds something suitable and road trip worthy, wincing as both jenna and debby begin belting out the lyrics to whatever cheesy, bubblegum pop song he’d picked. he regrets his decision, immediately, reaching out to change the station, but tyler bats his hand away with a deathly glare.

“what?” josh asks, genuinely confused.

“i like this song,” tyler frowns, and josh chuckles.

“you could’ve just said that.”

he smiles to himself fondly as tyler begins singing the lyrics _just_ as loudly, and he thinks that maybe, he doesn’t regret his decision as much as he’d initially thought.

time clicks by in the form of screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs, to miming drumming and flamboyantly playing air guitar, until jenna sprawls across the back seat, head in debby’s lap, announcing that she’s tired. josh turns the radio down and she’s out like a light within a few minutes, debby gently stroking her hair. another ten minutes pass and debby falls asleep, too, neck craned against the back seat, hand still in jenna’s hair.

“hey, josh,” tyler grumbles, flipping through radio stations, trying to find one that isn’t covered in static.

“yeah?”

“i have to pee.”

josh glances at him, rolling his eyes. “i asked you if you had to pee twenty minutes ago, dude. i told you i’m not turning around, so you’re gonna have to hold it.”

“i didn’t have to pee then,” tyler whines in return, leaning back in his seat after finding a suitable song. “come on.”

“tyler, i am _not_ finding another gas station.”

“you’re not being fair,” tyler complains, throwing his head back against the seat. “please.”

“oh my god, no.”

“josh!” tyler exclaims.

“ _tyler_ ,” josh deadpans.

“please?”

“i’m not finding another gas station. if you need to go that bad, you can pee on the side of the highway.”

tyler groans. “you’re the worst boyfriend i’ve ever had,” he sighs, dramatically throwing an arm over his eye. he yanks it up some to glare at josh. “fine, pull over.”

josh raises an eyebrow as he searches the side of the road for a safe place to pull over. “i’m the only boyfriend you’ve had,” he points out.

“which makes you the worst!” tyler grins as opens his car door, sliding out of his seat and rounding the back of the car. josh impatiently taps his fingers on his thighs until the door reopens and tyler plops down next to him, smiling cheerily. he leans over and pecks josh on the cheek, grabbing his hand.

half of him wants to be pissed, if only for the sake of lost time, but his chest glows with warmth as he intertwines his fingers with tyler’s and he doesn’t bother trying to keep an adoring smile off of his face.

tyler hums and sings along to the radio and plays with josh’s fingers, tapping beats to songs on his knuckles. eventually, his eyes grow heavy and his voice weary, until he ends up resting his head on josh’s shoulder. josh thinks that the position can’t be comfortable, what with tyler’s side being stretched out across both seats, but he’s asleep within a few minutes, snoring softly into josh’s ear.

debby awakes in the seat behind him half an hour later, stretching as best she can with jenna’s head in her lap. she yawns and rubs at her eyes, meeting josh’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

“did you ask him out yet?” she smiles fondly at the pair.

“kinda.”

she blanches, mouth falling open, eyes widening. “what? _when_?”

he chuckles, squeezing tyler’s hand. he lets out a quiet noise next to josh’s ear, and his smile grows wider. “this afternoon.”

debby smiles smugly, easing back into her seat. “i can’t wait until you tell jenna. her and i bet on it. i just won.”

“you bet on my relationship?” josh snorts, narrowing his eyes.

“hell yeah we did. on who would ask out who.”

“jesus, how much did you bet?”

“twenty bucks. why?”

“how long ago was this?”

“at brendon’s pool party when you two were all _alone_ ,” her voice is a lilting sing-song, teasing him.

josh closes his eyes, sighing. “you didn’t win, though. you owe her.”

debby glares at him. “what do you mean?”

“he kind of asked me out,” josh shuffles, shooting tyler a fond glance.

“no way,” debby groans. “she’s gonna talk about me losing for _weeks_.” a pause, broken only by josh’s laugh. she scowls when she asks, “how far away are we?”

“you shouldn’t have bet on us.” his eyes flicker down to the car radio, and back up to the road. “fifteen minutes, give or take.”

“cool. wake me up when we get there,” she responds, sticking her tongue out when josh glares at her in the mirror. five minutes later, he’s surrounded by sleeping bodies as he drives on, and he’s beginning to feel a little drowsy himself.

another five minutes pass, and he swears he’s going to fall asleep at the wheel.

he keeps himself intently focused on the road to stay awake. it seems to have worked, as everyone’s still alive and breathing when he pulls up to the campsite of choice, right behind dallon’s car.

he parks next to him and shuts the engine off. gently, he wakes tyler until he’s coherent enough to slide off of his shoulder and sit up in his seat, blinking tiredly (adorably) at josh.

“we’re here,” josh states, earning a sleepy, half-confused smile, before he swings his door open.


	2. and it drives me wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ruins the spirit of camping.”

josh climbs out of the car to join the rest of the group gathered; pete and brendon are already bickering, patrick watching on disapprovingly as dallon stares at the phone in hand. debby and jenna join the fray, climbing out of the back of the car to stand off to the side, watching in mild interest as pete progressively grows louder.

after a second, tyler blearily stumbles up to the group from the passenger seat, leaning heavily on josh’s arm.

“hey, sleeping beauty,” josh murmurs, tucks him into his side and runs a hand through his hair.

pete and brendon continue to fight over something ridiculous; pete makes the point that brendon has a huge forehead, and it’s petty and unrelated, but not necessarily untrue.

“so _what_ if my forehead is huge?” brendon crows.

debby heaves a sigh, dragging jenna toward the cars by her wrist; she pops the trunk on the mustang and begins pulling out a variety of their items, including sleeping bags and other bags full of clothes. jenna moves over beside her, sticking her head into the trunk.

after a second, with the entirety of her upper body now in the trunk, jenna quips, “hey, we have a problem.” she leans in further, seemingly looking for something before she tosses her head over her shoulder, looking at debby and asking, “where are the tents?”

debby sighs, shifting some stuff around in the case that she just skipped over them. jenna’s question catches all of their attention, even manages to stop pete and brendon’s ridiculous arguing for two seconds; the two search the back of pete’s mustang while the other six watch, coming up with ultimately nothing, both wearing sheepish gazes as they look anywhere but the others.

“oh my god,” josh states, plainly. tyler sighs in disbelief at his side.

“how the _fuck_ did we forget the tents?” debby asks no one in particular.

brendon groans loudly, throwing his head back to curse at the sky. dallon pats his back sympathetically.

“did everyone bring a sleeping bag?” patrick asks, greeted with a chorus of silent, dejected nods all around. he claps his hands together with a grin, forever the optimist. “guess we’re sleeping under the stars.”

“we have cars, you know,” pete supplies tiredly, but patrick shakes his head.

“ruins the spirit of camping,” he offers a cheesy grin, and pete flips him off.

“i hate camping,” tyler huffs a half-hearted sigh.

josh pulls him into a one-armed hug and smacks a loud kiss against his cheek. “it can’t be that bad,” he grins, affectionately pressing his nose against the side of tyler’s face. “we can share a sleeping bag. it’ll be fine, babe.”

tyler pushes josh away, rolling his eyes. “you suck.”

he winks, and tyler sticks his tongue out immaturely. they cross to josh’s car and open up the trunk to help pull out the rest of the stuff packed in the back. the rest of the group gathers around, collecting their items, until only tyler’s bag is left on the ground.

“did you _even_ bring a sleeping bag?” tyler asks josh when he sees he doesn’t have his, furrowing his brow.

josh smirks. “nope.”

“did you plan this?” tyler sighs, rubbing at his eyes in frustration.

“what, not bringing a sleeping bag? yes. but i think debby forgot the tents. that’s on her.”

tyler glares at him. “you can sleep on the ground.”

he pushes josh away when he tries to kiss him, sulking over to the rest of the group to spread his sleeping bag out on the ground next to jenna and debby.

jenna smiles up at him. “hey,” she murmurs as he fluffs his sleeping bag out and sits cross-legged on top of it.

josh collapses next to him as soon as he’s sat down, plopping his head into tyler’s lap. immediately, he forgets that he’s irritated, his fingers curling against josh’s scalp softly, twining through his hair.

“do they ever stop arguing?” debby’s asking, scowling; josh and tyler follow her gaze at the same time jenna sighs brendon’s name under her breath.

brendon and pete are at each other’s throats again; it’s hardly surprising, and patrick and dallon are standing to the side, casting exasperated glances at each other.

“nope,” tyler mumbles, popping the ‘p’. “gotta piss. be right back.”

he shrugs josh’s head out of his lap and walks off toward the trees, disappearing into the distance. a second later, josh fishes his phone out of his pocket as it buzzes.

from: **tyler**

_come over here_

he quirks an eyebrow at his screen, tapping out a response at the same time jenna asks who’s texting him. “my mom,” he lies effortlessly. it’s a nice skill to have, even if it did come from a lifetime of hiding from his parents to avoid getting his teeth knocked in.

from: **josh**

_why_

not a second passes before he has another impending text.

from: **tyler**

_because i said so_

“gonna go check on ty,” he mumbles offhandedly, shoving his phone back into his pocket and stumbling to his feet.

“they’re totally gonna jerk each other off behind those trees,” debby sighs to jenna as soon as he's out of earshot.

“oh, i know," jenna hums, sing-song.

josh stumbles deeper into the forest, ducking behind a tree and calling tyler’s name.

“could you be any louder?” tyler sighs, coming up to his left and grabbing his hips; he turns them both around and gently presses josh up against the nearest tree. “how obvious did you make it that you were leaving?”

“pretty obvious,” josh groans as tyler slots a leg between his thighs, pressing him harder up to the trunk of the tree by his shoulders. “i would’ve made it less obvious if you’d just – _oh_ –“

tyler unhelpfully rolls his leg, cutting off his words. “just shush for a second,” he laughs, hiking his shirt up some to fumble with his belt; he undoes it with nimble fingers, flicking down his zipper.

“are we really – _ah_ ,” another moan as tyler presses his palm against the front of his dick. “you’re getting desperate, ty.”

“you’re damn right –“

“pete, do _not_ go over there!” josh hears debby shout, and he pushes tyler away from him, scrambling to do his belt; tyler trips over his own feet and goes sprawling on his ass just as pete emerges from the trees, shouting, “fuck you, debby!”

his eyes land on josh, belt undone, and tyler, laying on the floor with the most defeated expression on his face that he’s ever seen.

he glances between them both before a wry grin crosses his features. “am i interrupting something?”

tyler says ‘yes’ at the same time josh shouts ‘no!’.

“ah,” pete clicks his tongue, putting his hands in the air like he’s surrendering. “have fun, boys.”

he begins walking backwards from where he came from, snickering, and josh breathes out heavily in relief.

until he hears pete shout, “guess what josh and ty are doing!”

he hits his head against the tree when he throws it back in exasperation, quickly fixing his belt. “thank you, tyler.”

“you’re welcome.” he pulls himself to his feet, brushing off his ass. “my boner’s dead.”

josh scoffs as he leaves tyler behind, heading back to the group. his face is probably scarlet, and he rubs at his cheeks as he plops back down onto tyler’s sleeping bag.

“wow, joshie, you finish quick,” brendon crows, and it gets the entire group to laugh; even dallon’s hiding his giggling behind his fingertips, and he only blushes harder, tips of his ears glowing red as he hangs his head.

“fuck off, brendon,” jenna calls back; pete even high-fives brendon for his joke, which is the most terrifying thing that’s happened all day aside from nearly being walked in on by _pete_. “where’s tyler?”

“probably jerking off in the trees,” he sighs, rubbing at his cheeks.

“don’t be embarrassed,” debby chimes in. “one time, jenna and i –“

“ _debby_!” jenna nearly screams, face going red. “do not tell him what i think you’re about to tell him!”

“i don’t wanna know!” josh shouts back at her terror, equally as loud as he sticks his fingers in his ears and begins singing.

debby doubles over in laughter, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. she attempts to calm herself down, but only bursts back into laughter at the affronted look on jenna’s face.

“look, it’s tyler,” pete cheers, clapping. “how’d it go?”

“fuck you, pete,” he sighs, sounding tired as he collapses next to josh, hooking his chin over his shoulder and putting his hands on his hips. “m’sorry.”

“it’s fine,” he grins, leaning into the press of tyler’s lips on the back of his neck. “maybe another time.”

“ew,” debby chimes.

“you were just about to tell him about _that_ ,” jenna growls, and debby shuts up immediately at the look on her face.

“wow, deb, you’re not getting any for the next week,” tyler laughs.

“tyler, do _not_ make me bring up the time your mom almost walked in –“

“okay!” he shrieks, and debby grins smugly. “okay, okay! i’m _sorry_!”

“damn right you are!”

“what’d your mom almost walk in on?” josh pesters, smiling at the discomfort radiating off of him in waves.

“ _nothing_.”

“if you keep scowling like that, your face’ll get stuck –“

“that’s stupid, josh, shut up.”

“don’t come crying to me when you permanently look like that.”

“i’m breaking up with you.”

“wait,” jenna breaks in, and debby visibly pales. “when’d you two start dating?” a pause, and then an excited shriek. “who asked who out?”

“jen,” debby tries to cut in. “maybe now’s not the best time –“

“tyler asked me out,” josh grins.

“i knew it!” jenna shouts again, flinging herself into debby’s arms and laughing in her face. “you owe me!”

debby groans, long suffering, as she throws herself backwards. jenna crawls into her lap, bouncing excitedly as she chimes, “you owe me, you owe me!”

“what the fuck?” tyler asks.

josh shakes his head, mumbling “long story,” over jenna’s excited babbling.

“what’s happening over here?” comes a new voice; tyler looks up to see patrick, closely followed by pete.

“don’t know,” he responds.

“we’re going to get firewood to make the fire,” patrick explains as pete hooks an arm around his waist. “be back in a little bit.”

“don’t get eaten by bears,” josh helpfully adds.

“we’ll try.”

they move off in the direction of the forest, and tyler lays himself across the ground; josh sprawls next to his side, tangling their fingers together as they stare up at the sky.

they watch as the dusky blue slowly fades into a lilac purple; tyler comments on how pretty it is, and josh sighs.

“you’re a sap,” he complains, even as he kisses tyler’s cheek.

“i know. you love it.”

“i do.”

pete and patrick return not five minutes later and begin putting together a makeshift fire pit with brendon and dallon’s help; even debby and jenna go and join the fray, but josh and tyler remain on the ground together, watching the stars come to life in the sky.

a cheer comes from the group gathered, and the sky lights up with orange flame; dallon pulls out a bag of marshmallows from the food cooler, and josh, enticed by food, abandons tyler’s side.

“josh,” tyler complains, but he pushes himself up to his feet and follows on his heels.

“who knows scary stories?” brendon asks, digging into the bag and sticking a marshmallow onto a makeshift wire hanger formed into a stick to roast; he hangs it in the fire, glancing around the group with wild eyes lit up by the flames.

“brendon, no,” dallon chides. “those are for kids.”

“shut the hell up, dallon.”

“make me.”

“i will.”

brendon throws his stick on the ground and grabs dallon’s hips, tugging him close before reaching up to cup his cheeks; he yanks his head down to be able to kiss him, and someone, most likely pete, wolf-whistles. dallon flips him off and the rest of the group choruses laughter.

“that’s gay,” josh says.

“you’re literally holding my hand.”

“that’s besides the point, ty.”

tyler shrugs, and the marshmallows are passed to him; he picks one out, shoves the entire thing in his mouth, and hands the bag over to josh.

josh snags brendon’s stick and pulls his marshmallow off, tossing it in the fire before replacing it with his own; brendon and dallon walk off toward the trees, not even bothering to be discreet with the noise brendon’s making.

“horny fucking teenagers,” pete sighs.

jenna sits on the ground, and debby flops down into her lap, roasting her own marshmallow.

it’s nice, and it’s warm, the evening lit up by the fire and the laughter of the group; brendon and dallon don’t come back for nearly twenty minutes, and when they do, nobody talks about how brendon’s lips are swollen and shiny or how his hair is disheveled even more than normal.

they certainly don’t talk about how flushed dallon’s cheeks are.

no one wants to know.


	3. it's me and you now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "the fire is dwindling, shooting orange sparks up into the sky."

the fire is dwindling, shooting orange sparks up into the sky; they’ve all set up their sleeping bags around the smoldering pit of embers and settled in for the night after roasting marshmallows.

tyler’s laying on his side, staring into the hazy yellow-orange hues, while josh has an arm wrapped around his waist, he’s breathing soft and shallow against his neck, and tyler smiles lazily to himself as he blinks at the fire.

it’s soft and it’s silent aside from the sound of the fire sparking every now and then, until brendon’s voice breaks the quiet. “does anyone want to tell ghost stories?”

someone laughs, and someone groans. tyler sighs, rolls onto his other side to bury his face into the side of josh’s throat. he grunts and readjusts, tucking tyler closer to his chest, before nosing through his hair and kissing his forehead.

“no, brendon,” dallon says softly, gently. “go to sleep.”

the quiet falls over the group for a blessed few minutes. someone begins snoring loudly, and tyler can feel josh begin to fall asleep next to him, breathing slowly evening out.

“i have to piss so bad,” tyler tells the ceiling of stars a few minutes later, because he’s been holding it for ten minutes and he’s about to pee himself.

he turns his head to face a barely coherent josh. he gazes back at him, eyebrows furrowed in the adorably telltale way that he’s frustrated; tyler gives a bright, cheeky smile in return. he isn’t tired in the slightest.

“really? right now?” josh hisses, untangling himself from the sleeping bag and tyler’s skinny limbs to glare at him in the dark. “go then, dumbass.”

“dude, i’m not going out there alone,” tyler grumbles back, shuffling around and pulling back from josh. “what if there’s bears?”

there’s the sound of the sleeping bag being unzipped, and then tyler’s face appears directly before josh’s – he nearly shrieks in surprise, barely holding it in his throat.

he shoves at his shoulder roughly, hissing, “you _scared_ me!”

tyler snickers, grabbing josh’s hand to help drag him to his feet. “c’mon, it’ll take like, five seconds.”

“you so owe me,” josh gripes, searching the ground for his boots. he tugs them on without bothering to lace them and wraps his arms around his chest before following tyler deeper into the forest.

“i’ll make it up to you,” tyler promises, pulling his phone out of his pocket to act as a flashlight. the sound of leaves and pine needles crunch under their feet, and josh is just about to ask how far away they need to go to pee when tyler moves behind a tree.

“hurry up. it’s cold out here,” he remarks, huddling his arms closer to himself.

tyler flips him off, even though he can’t see. he hums a song he heard on the radio earlier to himself and unzips his jeans, gazing around his surroundings. for a second, he swears that he can see a pair of eyes staring at him from a nearby bush and his heart stops for a good, fleeting second. he blinks rapidly, giving his head a good shake, willing them to go away.

they don’t, continuing to stare at him, and he wants to scream because _holy fucking mother of god what if that’s a bear_. it’s probably not a bear, considering they’re in the middle of ohio, but his mind would very much like to believe it so, and his heart races against his will. he also nearly zips his own dick up in his pants in the scrambling rush he’s in, backing up in rapid succession toward wherever josh happened to be without taking his eyes off whatever figure was still staring at him in the shadows.

“josh,” he hisses, and when he hears no answer, his panic increases. his hands shake, and he grips his phone harshly in his palm to avoid dropping it. “josh!”

“jesus, what?” the other asks, voice sharp, as he pokes his head around the tree tyler is still standing in front of. tyler jabs at something in the dark ahead of them, and he gives his vision a moment to focus, his blood running cold when he finally sees the _eyes_.

“what should we do?” tyler whispers, as quietly as possible, turning off the flashlight and shoving his phone deep into his pocket.

“how the fuck am i supposed to know?” josh mumbles back, cross, squinting at tyler’s face in the sudden darkness.

“should we run?”

“fuck – _probably_!”

josh grabs tyler’s wrist without warning and begins sprinting in the other direction, back towards their camping area. tyler nearly finds himself sprawled across the forest floor, barely managing to scramble to his feet before twisting out of the way of a tree as he almost catches his shoulder on the trunk’s edge.

they reach the clearing where the rest of the group is sleeping, and there’s no sign of anything following them. josh exhales in relief and tyler peers around on the ground, freezing up when he sees that both jenna and debby are missing from their sleeping bag. he spins around, and josh stares at him, narrowing his eyes. “what?”

“where the hell are jenna and debby?”

“were they even on the ground when we left? they’re probably making out behind some trees.”

“no – _wait_ , oh my god, what if the bear got them?”

“tyler, stop. that’s ridiculous. i’m sure we would’ve heard if they got attacked by a bear.”

“okay, you’re right,” tyler says, slowly, as if he’s unsure of himself. almost as if on cue, he hears someone giggle behind him, and he turns around, deliberately calmly.

jenna smiles a lopsided grin at him, and he fights the urge to punch her square in the jaw.

“a bear? _really_?” debby cackles from her side. “funniest thing i’ve seen all day.”

“hey, okay, fuck you,” tyler kicks at the ground petulantly, crossing his arms. “what were you even doing out there?”

debby giggles again, and tyler shoots her a glare.

“i was peeing up until you came stomping around like you owned the forest,” jenna says, reaching over to poke the center of his chest, and he slaps her hand away.

“okay, i’m going back to sleep,” josh announces softly from the side, picking his way over to his sleeping bag. tyler follows after, sticking his tongue out at jenna.

“you suck,” he whisper-shouts over his shoulder at her, and she flips him off. “oh, _real_ mature.”

“shut up,” josh hisses. he’s suddenly on the ground, shuffling into the sleeping bag and hiding his face. “you’re gonna wake up the rest of the world.”

“sorry,” tyler mumbles. he slides to his knees and moves in behind josh, zipping up the sleeping before turning and cuddling into josh’s side.

he accepts him without complaint, throwing an arm around his waist and tugging him closer. he kisses tyler’s hair and he laughs breathlessly as he tucks his head under his chin.

relaxing into josh, tyler tries to fall asleep, but to no avail. his bladder is pulsing erratically and he realizes he never went pee; he swallows, peering up at josh through the darkness. “hey,” he whispers.

josh merely grumbles in return.

“josh.”

another grumble, and suddenly, he’s pulling away from him and sliding onto his other side to avoid his (annoying as hell) boyfriend.

he brushes off the fact that josh is ignoring him. “i still have to pee.”

“fuck you, tyler.”

tyler snickers, rolling himself closer and attaching to josh’s back. “do you think everyone’s asleep?” he breathes against the shell of josh’s ear, planting a kiss to his neck and wrapping his arm around his chest.

he shivers, tilting his head to give tyler more access as he immediately ignores the fact that he’s pissed at not being able to go to bed with tyler pestering him. tyler tugs on his stomach, and he rolls onto his back. “probably. why?”

“because,” tyler pauses to kiss his cheek, carefully, moving his hand to push his fingers underneath josh’s shirt. “i can’t do this if anyone else is awake.”

“wait – do what?” josh questions. he receives no answer, silence greeting his ears; he squints his eyes to make out tyler’s face mere inches from his own, enraptured in the feeling of fingertips sliding against his skin.

“you have to stay quiet,” tyler whispers. his hand disappears, only to skim over the front of his boxers – his breath hitches in his throat as tyler’s fingers quickly find their way underneath the waistband of the fabric, barely touching his dick.

“jesus,” josh breathes, staring up at the stars. his vision blurs together lazily, mixing black sky with white stars the longer he stares.

tyler hushes him, squirming down so he can kiss the side of his throat before grasping his cock in his hand. immediately, it twitches to life, and tyler giggles a little, running his finger along the underside.

“i’d so blow you right now if there weren’t so many people,” tyler mumbles against his throat, and josh’s stomach rolls unhelpfully. he lets out a nearly-silent, indecipherable groan at his words, digging his fingers into the sleeping bag beneath his back.

tyler’s fingers tighten and move upward. josh’s teeth clack together harshly as he bites down a moan; it nearly tears out of his throat, turning into a garbled noise when tyler rubs his thumb across the head.

grinding his palm against the base, tyler chuckles soft and lazy, nipping at the gauged lobe of josh’s ear; he pumps his cock between long, skinny fingers, deliberately keeping his movements slow.

josh grunts, hips pushing up into tyler’s hand; he grips harsher, pulls faster up and down as josh writhes underneath him, soft, bitten-back noises barely escaping between tightly clenched teeth. tyler shushes him, friskily sticks his tongue through his gauge with a laugh when josh moans softly.

dipping his head, he angles himself to where he can get his mouth on josh’s collar bone, low enough for it to be hidden by the collar of his shirt. josh lets out a tiny mewl when teeth drag against his skin, followed by the prodding of a tongue, tyler’s fingers fast and rough and tight against his cock.

“ _fuck_ ,” he pants, quiet as possible, and tyler grins, pressing an open-mouthed kiss against his neck. his wrist is cramping and the angle is awful, but he tightens his fingers even further and pulls up and down faster until josh whines, coming in long, thick strands, over his stomach and tyler’s hand.

tyler wrinkles his nose as he finishes, rubbing his hand on the side of josh’s boxers to ease the stickiness coating his fingers away.

“what brought that on?” josh asks once his vision stops swimming, wrapping an arm around tyler’s shoulders.

tyler hums, cuddling into his chest. “told you i’d make it up to you.”

josh snorts, faint and sleepy. “god, i love you.”

“i love you, too.”

tyler curls back into josh’s embrace, and they both sleepily look at the stars; his eyelashes are just beginning to flutter tiredly when he feels his phone buzz somewhere in his pocket. “i just got a text,” he grunts into josh’s throat, and josh grumbles disjointedly.

“answer it then,” josh mumbles near-incoherently, tugging out of tyler’s grasp.

tyler shuffles around, flopping onto his back and fishing his phone out of his pocket. he pulls it up to his face and squints at the sudden light as he turns on the power button; he shuffles for the brightness setting, before looking at his new text. he’s surprised to see it’s from pete, considering he thought he was asleep.

from: **pepe**

tell josh he’s bad at coming quietly

tyler barely holds back a laugh, and he nudges josh in the ribs.

“tyler, can you fuck off?” josh grunts, but tyler nudges him again.

“pete sent you a text.” that seems to get his attention; he rolls onto his back and tyler hurriedly passes the phone over to him. he breaks into a grin, clicking the power button and killing the light as he calls, “sorry, pete.”

“you guys are going to hell.”


End file.
